OREANDA-NEWS. A letter of intent signed between LOTOS Serwis and the Polish Shipping Register offers prospects of new offshore project modernisation contracts and a substantially higher involvement in the segment. The word 'offshore' is used to refer to exploratory, production and processing facilities operating in marine environments. Such facilities are deployed to explore for and extract crude oil or natural gas at sea. In practice, the term also covers vessels servicing marine installations.

The companies have declared their intention to cooperate and use each other's services in supervision over the construction and repairs of offshore units, periodic inspections of such units, preparation of technical expert reports, supervision over the construction and operation of transmission infrastructure, safety evaluation of offshore units, and other projects. The letter of intent includes a long list of specific actions which the companies intend to carry out jointly.

"As important as the clear definition of the framework for our cooperation, is the companies' commitment to encourage their existing and prospective clients to use the services of both signatories," said Leszek Dylik, President of the LOTOS Serwis Management Board. "Signing a letter of intent with a partner as reputable as the Polish Shipping Register means that LOTOS Serwis has taken another step towards further specialisation and gaining new expertise in servicing, modernisation and repairs of technological, security, electric, instrumentation and control systems of offshore facilities. Apart from refining, this is another area in which the Company intends to become highly specialised".

LOTOS Serwis Sp. z o.o. was established in 2003, following corporate and organisational restructuring of the LOTOS Group. The company's business comprises plant engineering, operation of equipment and installations, repairs, as well as diagnostics and measuring services. LOTOS Serwis is qualified in explosion hazard management (Ex), electrical engineering, technical inspection and railway operation, and holds numerous certificates.

Polski Rejestr Statkow S.A. (Polish Shipping Register) is a classification society with over 75 years of experience in supervising the design, construction and operation of ships and other floating units. PRS S.A. is a member of the prestigious International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). For many years, it has supervised the construction and operation of offshore structures and onshore industrial facilities, doing so in the form of project owner's and technical supervision under the provisions of the Building Law, and in the form of independent supervision by a third party (Consultant, Engineer/Independent Engineer). Currently, PRS is finishing work on the regulations for offshore facilities permanently attached to the seabed, to be published in the near future.  

"Given the growing offshore activities of companies from the Gdansk province, I believe that combining the potential of the two Gdansk-based companies, LOTOS Serwis and PRS, to jointly offer specialised engineering services for the demanding offshore sector will be of great benefit to all interested parties," added Dariusz Rudzinski, President of the Management Board of PRS S.A.

This is a second offshore industry-related letter of intent signed by LOTOS Serwis. Since 2013, the company has been party to an arrangement with Gdanska Stocznia Remontowa concerning modernisation of exploratory and production rigs, which has resulted in the execution of several contracts for works performed on a rig operated by ITHACA ENERGY.

"As a LOTOS Group company, LOTOS Serwis wants to take an active part in investment programmes aimed to develop the Group's upstream segment, such as those implemented by LOTOS Petrobaltic in the Baltic Sea basin," Mr Dylik added. For this reason, LOTOS Serwis has become involved in the preparation of a new LOTOS Petrobaltic rig for operation on the Baltic Sea. The company was responsible for the technical inspection of the GSF Monitor rig, which has been carrying out drilling operations on the B-27 field under the name LOTOS PETROBALTIC since the end of March 2014.